Montana Artworking by Cindy Betka

Still life paintings are an area I have not delved into much. With this small 8" X 8" oil study I started out tight and finished, closer to realistic. From there I scraped, brushed, and went wild. Just having fun with trying things was the reward.

The Radius Gallery in Missoula has accepted 3 of my paintings into their 'Winds and Bones' show. Here is a take from their web site,  http://radiusgallery.com . WIND & BONES Oct 3 - Nov 16 A new show paying tribute to Montana writer James Welch, whose poetry was once described as having a lot of  "wind and bones"  in it. Intrigued by the suggestion of strength, energy and space, we offered this provocative notion to visual artists in Montana and asked them to respond. Below are my 3 paintings. 'Empowered' 16" X 20", Oil on panel, gallery wrap 'Exalted' 15" X 15", Oil on panel, gallery wrap 'Purple Majesty' 16" X 16", Oil on panel 'He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind' Psalm 78:26

'Seeing Red' Oil 8" X 8" In this quick small painting, I took great pains to resist using any blue. My palette was raw umber, yellow ochre, cadmium red light, and white. The log barn is in the historic Grant-Kohrs Ranch.

Here we are taking a step back in history standing behind bars. If you happen to be traveling on I-90 between Missoula and Butte there is a small town of Deer Lodge. It is worth a stop to tour the Old Prison Museum. The prison was constructed with convict labor in 1871 and active until 1979, when it was moved to a new site outside of town. A building on site houses the MT Auto Museum, packed full of over 150 antique autos, also worth visiting. Below is a walking tour of the old prison.